‘I think—’ she cut off, squeezing her eyes shut when he pressed his nose to her inner thigh, followed by his tongue. ‘I think you’ll be fine.’
She slid the short strands of his hair through her fingers, feeling him shudder in response. Desperation filled her as he lingered at her hip, kissing her skin with barely-there touches. He pulled back to study her, running his fingers lightly between her legs until she squirmed.
‘Jude,’ Maeve said, breathier than she would’ve liked. ‘Please.’
He smiled, mumbling something against her skin that sounded suspiciously likepatience. She memorized the sight of his head between her legs, his fingers pressing indents into her hip. His panting breaths against where she needed him the most.
She couldn’t take it anymore.
Maeve skated her hand over his head to pull his mouth closer. Her eyes fell shut as he finally pressed his tongue to her skin. Her body was strung-out and eager, her heart beating in time with his touch. For a moment that seemed endless, it was as though she didn’t inhabit her body at all. It was only Jude, his mouth between her legs, his fingers inside her, and the heavy weight of his hand against her thigh.
Like in the bath, she guided him with a hand in his hair, back arching upwards when he pressed his face closer, groaning into her. He didn’t let up until she lay spent, her breaths coming in rapid pulls. Even then, she had to pull him back, laughing when he whined and placed a final, open-mouthed kiss between her thighs.
‘How very enjoyable,’ he said, wrapping his arms tight around her waist and burying his face in her belly. ‘Marvellous.’
‘Marvellous?’ Maeve laughed, a breathless thing. ‘You’ve never used that word in your life.’ She stretched the stiffness from her fingers on the quilt as he chuckled, rubbing the stubble on his cheek against her skin until she squirmed. ‘I am very glad you think so, though. Extraordinarily glad, even.’
He shifted downwards. ‘Again, perhaps?’
‘There are other things, you know,’ she said, regretfully tugging him back up.
‘Are there?’
His voice was light, teasing. Maeve didn’t think she’d ever seen his smile so unencumbered. She kissed the side of it and rolled him onto his back. His hazel eyes were clear and dark as he gazed up at her. The fringe of his lashes covered them as he tilted his head to watch her fingertips skip down the planes of his stomach, lips parted. She traced the runic tattoo on the hollow of his right hip, stopping when he stifled a gasp.
‘It’s sensitive,’ he said. ‘But don’t stop.’
She flattened her hand, covering the lines before running her palm up his side and tracing the largest tattoo on his chest – a half-circle surrounded by three lines like the rays of a sun. The sign of the Abbey, forever marked on his skin, just like it was on both of their hearts and minds. It might never leave them entirely, but perhaps it could be reclaimed.
She leaned down and kissed it. Jude shuddered.
Fighting a tremble, she drew her hand back down the centre of his stomach and slowly wrapped it around him. He made a keening noise, gripping her waist as she moved her hand up and down. A light sheen of sweat dewed his chest. She rubbed her thumb across him, smiled when he whimpered. She drew closer, sliding him against the wetness between her legs. Fought a gasp of her own at the feeling of it, at the way his head tipped back with a moan.
‘Jude,’ Maeve whispered.
His throat bobbed with a rough swallow. ‘Yeah?’
‘Is this what you want?’
‘Yes,’ he breathed, nodding. ‘Please.’
Steadying herself with a hand on his chest, Maeve rose on her knees and slowly sank onto him. His fingers convulsed on her hips, the tendons in his neck stretching tight. She paused there, letting them both adjust. She wished they had more light – the sun, a candle,anything. She wanted to see him, see where they connected.
Finally, he let out a long breath, shifting his hips beneath her and pressing his head back deeper into the mattress. He wanted her to move. She wouldn’t – not yet. Instead, she leaned forward, sliding her nose up his neck and sucking a kiss into the soft skin just beneath his ear, not quite hard enough to leave a mark. ‘Okay?’
His whole body jerked in response. She pulled back to look, worried she’d done something he hadn’t liked, but his face was slack, lips parted. He slid both palms up the line of her spine, one coming to rest around the back of her head as he brought their foreheads together.
‘Can you do that again?’ he asked, their lips brushing together.
His brows were knitted tightly, eyes half-open, almost in pain. A deep flush was working its way down his neck. She gave a few rolls of her hips, just to see him shudder.Saints, he felt good. ‘Do what?’
He brushed his fingertips lightly under his collarbone. ‘Mark me. Here.’ His voice took on a soft, pleading cadence.‘I want to see it later.’
It was her turn to shudder, leaning down to press her mouth exactly where he’d touched, sucking until a deep purple mark bloomed on his skin. ‘Like that?’ she asked.
Jude nodded. He rested his palm over it when she was done, his face relaxing like she’d unknotted something inside him.Before she could return to unravelling him completely, his hands were on her hips, moving her over him. Her legs trembled with the strain. She braced her hands on his chest, leaning down over him. His gaze was clear, his face inches from her.
And Maeve couldn’t focus, not on anything that wasn’t him. The way he felt inside her, the tender pressure of her chest sliding against his. The liquid heat travelling down her limbs was too much to bear.
